1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the Internet and more specifically to a method of managing Internet addressing, such as registration and modification of domain names, addresses and their associated records.
2. Description of the Related Art
Each computer on the Internet is identified by a unique Internet protocol (“IP”) address. This address is a 32-bit number organized as four 8-bit values separated by periods such as 123.45.67.89. Such a numerical system, while useful as a routing address system for computer-to-computer communication, is not human user-friendly. Consequently, domain names are used to allow users to more easily identify and connect to a target computer on the network. These user-friendly domain names (or “host names”), such as “register.com”, are easy for users to remember and, since they map to a unique IP number, accurately identify the computer's IP address. While initially designed as a user-friendly connection scheme on the Internet, the right to use certain domain names has become an important intellectual property. In some instances, the use of a particular domain name has taken on branding significance.
The domain name entered by a user is sent over the Internet to a global network of servers called the Domain Name System (DNS), which translates the domain name into the target computer's numerical IP address. The numerical IP address is then sent to the user's computer to enable it to connect to the target computer. Typically, after the user enters the domain name, the rest of the process is invisible to the user until the user connects to the target computer.
Domain name space is a distributed hierarchical system organized at its highest level into a number of top-level domains. Each top-level domain (“TLD”) is divided into second-level domains, which are in turn divided into third-level domains, etc. There are more than 200 two-letter national, or country code, top-level domains (“cc-TLD”) administered by their respective governments or an assigned agent of that respective government. Other top-level domains include those identified by the familiar three letter codes, .com, .org, .net, .edu, .gov, .mil and .int, originally introduced in the United States. Some of these three-letter codes, such as .edu, .gov and .mil, are only used in the United States. Others can be used anywhere in the world. In 1991-1992, the National Science Foundation (“NSF”) assumed responsibility for managing the non-military portion of these three-letter Internet codes. On Dec. 31, 1992, the National Science Foundation entered into an agreement with Network Solutions, Inc. (“NSI”), under which Network Solutions managed the codes .com, .org, and .net, including registering domain names for computers on the Internet using these codes on an interim basis. The three codes managed by Network Solutions have come to be known as generic top-level domains (“g-TLD”).
Network Solutions assigned these generic top-level domains to users on a first-come, first-serve basis and also maintained a directory linking domain names with the IP addresses of domain name servers (the “Root Servers” or “DNS root servers”). The Root Servers are each an authoritative database of top-level domain names on the Internet. There are presently thirteen Root Servers worldwide that contain authoritative databases listing all top-level domains. The centralized management of Root Servers for all generic top-level domains assured that each computer on the network could be uniquely identified, and that unique duplicate names and numerical addresses were used. Network Solutions approved host domain names before registration to assure that no other user had already claimed the name. A variety of other related information was also recorded at the time the domain name was registered, such as contact and billing information. This related information was registered in a database, the Registry Whois, also administered by Network Solutions.
The conventional way for a domain name registrant or the registrant's designated agent (collectively, “Registrant”) to manage a domain name and its associated records is to enter the name via e-mail to the Registry Whois along with the contact information, the billing information, the expiration date, etc., for that domain name. If a change is to be made to a domain name record, the Registrant submits an e-mail form identifying the nature of the change. FIG. 1 shows the method conventionally used by Registrants who wished to register a domain name or reliably make changes to a registered domain name or the name's associated records. Under this method, the Registrant connected its client machine 1 over a public network such as the Internet 10 to a gateway server 5 coupled to the DNS Root Server. The Registrant sent a request over the client machine's browser 2 to retrieve an e-mail template 3 from the registration/modification program 6 residing on the gateway server 5. The requested registration/modification template is completed and submitted by the Registrant via e-mail to the gateway server and queued for processing.
If the Registrant wished to initially register a new domain name with a generic top-level domain, the Registrant entered the required information, or domain records, into the e-mail template 3 and sent it over the Internet 10 to the gateway server. The gateway server processed Registrant requests with its e-mail parsing system 7 and sent the requests on to the Registry Whois 8 directory to determine whether the requested name was available. If not, the request was denied and the Registrant was informed through e-mail that the name was not available. If the name was available, the new name, its IP address and the domain record information were accepted and entered into the DNS Root Server 9. The Registry Whois 8 was updated with the new information associated with the new domain name.
Modifications under this system were made similarly. The Registrant requested information on a particular domain name. The information was retrieved from the Registry Whois 8 and was made available on the interface 3 of the client machine 1. The Registrant entered modifications and proper authorization information and the changes were sent to the gateway server. From the gateway server 5, the modifications again went over the e-mail parsing system 7 to the DNS Root Server 9 and the Registry Whois 8 where the modifications were entered. Periodically, the DNS Root Server would update all other DNS root servers 11. This procedure introduced periods when websites appeared to be inoperative or abandoned after the physical Internet presence moved and the domain name was not properly associated with the new address on all DNS root servers.
If the Registrant requested country-code top-level domain name registrations and modifications, they were sent through the e-mail parsing system 7 to the DNS 12 and Whois registry 13 (or equivalent system) for the requested country. These databases interacted with the country-code-specific DNS management system 14 to request changes or enter new domains.
As shown in FIG. 2, the Registrant might have chosen to modify a record through an unaccredited registrar. The term “unaccredited registrar” refers to an organization that does not have the authority to directly register new Registrants or update Registrant records directly on the DNS root server. Unaccredited registrars thus facilitate the transfer or registration of modification information between the Registrant and an accredited registrar. When a Registrant used an unaccredited registrar, the Registrant accessed a domain program 60 residing on the unaccredited registrar's web server 50 to generate the interface 30. The domain program would likely request essentially the same information required by the system of FIG. 1. The Registrant sent modifications over the Internet to the unaccredited registrar's web server 50. The unaccredited registrar passed the information via e-mail 61 to the gateway server 5, and the rest of the process proceeded as described for FIG. 1. Regardless of which registrar initially received the domain record, the information ultimately ended up passing through the gateway server before updating the DNS server or the Registry Whois.
An unaccredited registrar would also likely have a database server 52 for storage of domain records. The database server 52 would be operationally associated with an internal DNS 51, which itself communicated with the rest of the DNS over the Internet 10. In this way, the unaccredited registrar could provide a place for new registrants to “park” a domain name on a server until such time as the registrants found a permanent location.
However, the unaccredited registrar had no way of knowing what records were current for the domain name, because the registrar had to obtain information for the Registrant through the authoritative DNS server via e-mail. Any number of unaccredited registrars or individual Registrants could send e-mail changes to the authoritative DNS server at any given moment. Because of this, information returned in response to a request for domain name availability or status could not be considered reliable, in that it might not accurately represent the current contents of the DNS root servers and the Registry Whois. Certain unaccredited registrars provided a limited ability for Registrants to make changes to certain records for existing domain names, but these changes were similarly not authoritative or reliable.
The domain name registration and management system for generic top-level domain names is changing. The U.S. Department of Commerce has granted the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) the authority to regulate the allocation and use of domain names. ICANN has accredited a number of new domain name registrars (“accredited registrars”), including the assignee of the present invention, to provide generic top-level domain name registration services and indicates that more accreditations are to be made in the future. Accredited registrars are authorized to directly register new Registrants and make changes to Registrants' domain records.
Accredited registrars have access to the Root Servers managed by Network Solutions through a Shared Registration System (“SRS”), which uses secure socket layer (“SSL”) encryption to insure security while allowing access to a common database of information. While Network Solutions continues to manage the Registry Whois database, accredited registrars each manage their own Registrar Whois directory, which is authoritative for all domain names registered through that particular accredited registrar. The uniqueness of each domain name will, of course, be maintained as all accredited registrars access the DNS root server through the SRS to register new names and modify existing records. Thus accredited registrars can cause the modification of records in the DNS root server through the application program running on the SRS. The Registry Whois keeps a listing of host domain names and the authoritative registrar for the host name. The Registry Whois is updated only if the accredited registrar is changed or the DNS server having primary authority over the name is changed.
Historically, when Network Solutions was the only accredited registrar, a certain level of Registrant-accessible domain name information control for generic top-level domain names was available from Network Solutions and from certain unaccredited registrars. These services gave Registrants limited control over certain individual domain name records. For instance, Registrants could transfer a name, forward e-mail and manage canonical names or aliases. On the other hand, there was no mechanism that allowed Registrants control over contract profiles, IP addresses, domain aliases, expiration and billing dates and the like. Nor could this system reliably assure Registrants that the records presented and modifications to the records will be consistent with the records in the DNS root servers. These limitations make the management of the information associated with the domain name usage an increasingly difficult, albeit important, task.
Further, presently available domain name record management is via “zone management designed for managing only a single domain name at a time. As used herein, “zone management” is the management of domain aliases, IP addresses, mail exchange (MX) records, and other records associated with a domain name. Zone management is difficult to use to effectively manage many domain names. If the Registrant has twenty different domain names, the same form must be submitted twenty times, once for each domain name. Accordingly, under the conventional system, there is no convenient way to manage the information recorded for a number of domain names or to easily monitor expiration dates and other critical data. This is particularly disadvantageous for businesses and other organizations that commonly have the use of multiple domain names and numerous sub-domains.